Core Issues of the Palestinian-Israeli Water Dispute

Israel controls the greater part of the Jordan River basin and the West Bank's aquifers. Palestinian consumption is severely restricted by the military authorities, causing serious water deficiencies in most Palestinian homes. Questions of rights to water resources have thus far been insufficiently addressed in both the multilateral negotiating fora and the Israeli-Palestinian bilateral agreements, the DOP and Cairo Agreement. This paper discusses water supply in the Palestine, water consumption, the legal status of Israeli riparian practices, and Israel's approaches to solving the water crisis. It also includes the topics of peacemaking, and proposes some ideas and plans to solve the water problem.